PayNearMe offers free Facebook Credits to test their service

Until Rixty came along and gave Facebook users the ability to turn spare change into Facebook Credits, debit and credit cards were the way to go. Now there's a new service that not only lets users pay for FB Credits in cash, but will offer big bonuses for doing so. This new service, called PayNearMe, was started by the controversial company Kwedit.

Here's how it works. You sign into PayNearMe using Facebook Connect. You set the number of credits you want to purchase and print out the final page (see image). Take that into a 7-11 and they scan it and you pay. Once you pay the credits are transferred to your account. In the future, the company says they'll have a mobile application and the clerk can just scan your phone.

One FB Credit costs $0.10 USD each. PayNearMe is offering a 10% bonus for users. This tacky, one minute, how-to video also claims that users who are first to use the service can get a 50 or 100 FB Credits bonus -- that's essentially free $5 or $10 USD. While it sounds great, given the history of Kwedit, and PayNearMe's hideously ugly site design (see image below), there are reasons to remain skeptical.

Since Arrington posted a copy of his PayNearMe slip in his report, you can print his slip and deliver it to a 7-Eleven for him. He put himself down for a buck's worth of FB Credits, so you'll lose a dollar, but he says he'll send you a virtual gift for your trouble.

Update:Inside Facebook says "the system is currently broken for those using Firefox, looping users back to the credits.paynearme.com landing page when they enter their zip code to find participating 7-11 stores."